The xbox flicked off and the television cut. The young boy who owned the console yawned widely and crawled into his bed, done with his colorful and bright hobby for the day. Inside the xbox, things lie dormant. Almost.
The harddrive, containing hard earned save files and marking down skillful achievements, the characters of the games were there alive and moving.
Shepard stretched her arms above her head and yawned widely. A hard time of fighting the Reapers made for quite a long few weeks, as he had played for quite some time. Obviously he wasn't in control of her every second, time still passed for her when she went to sleep or something in game, but she was still locked inside the game until he stopped playing. She wanted nothing more than to sit down in the Micro-Pub, have a drink and kick back. Since the new DLC had come out for her game, Mass Effect, the young boy who owned her games had been playing through the entire story again, making Shepard relive the entire war again. It wasn't particularly tramatic or anything, just tedious. He wasn't very good and his directions got Shepard killed alot. It would be a nice pace when she was retired and forgotten about, allowed to just live her life out in the Harddrive.
"Shepard! Haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?" The barkeep Joanna Dark asked as Shepard sat down at a booth in the Micro-Pub.
"Been a long while working there." Shepard sighed, laying her head back.
Joanna had been one of the first titles on the old xbox, and long since forgotten by their owner. She quickly became forgotten as newer games came out and she took her place as the barkeep of the Xbox's most popular watering hole. Along with her, the young elf Kameo was the waitress. She was another launch title who's save file was long since forgotten.
"What can I get you darling?" Joanna asked.
"Just a beer thanks." Shepard said.
"Here you are hon." Kameo said, bringing her the bottle.
"Hey Shep! Lookin' like you've had a hard time, me thinks you need to loosen up and have fun!" An obnoxious voice called out behind her. A bright, colorful woman danced about and fell into the seat across from her.
"Hello Harley, how have you been?" Shepard asked the spunky young blonde.
She had two blonde pigtails, one dyed red and one dyed black. Her outfit was of leather and lace, showing a lot of skin. She had split colors down the middle, entirely red and black. Her tight corset of belts made her breasts pop and her tight leggings left little to the imagination, leaving her crotch only covered by a small pair of panties. Her face had pale white paint with black around her eyes and bright cherry red on her lips.
"Just been bouncing around here having fun where I can." Harley laughed.
"Hey ladies, can I join you?" Lara asked as she stepped in front of her.
"Oh hey Croft, how's that tight ass doing?" Harley giggled.
"You know, still a little new so I get called out often enough. Weird thing is that the kid sometimes just has me walk close to a wall and stand there. I think he's tweaking with the camera, trying to stare at my ass for a long while or something." Lara said as Harley scooted over to give her room to sit down.
"Yea, yea. I get that too." Harley nodded, "Little perv is probably jacking off to us. I spend half my time in that game in training mode staring at that muscle nut Superman. Damn Lakitu is spending his time zooming circles around me. I hate that he's been the cameraman for friggen ever. I swear he gets a sick pleasure out of staring at us like that."
"The few times he's had that camera on, I've seen him. He's just a kid, probably still trying to figure out the female form." Kameo said, stopping by their table for a moment, "But honestly, what's it matter? Camera is also behind you staring at your ass anyway."
"Yea, I wouldn't mind being there though. That outfit of yours Shepard, it makes your ass look awesome." Harley teased, waggling a finger at her, "I could stare at it all day."
"Oh come on, people have been staring at my ass longer than either of you." Lara said, "Plus, how can you beat these shorts?"
She motioned at her short-shorts and bare legs.
"Looks like we have a while to kill. If the schedule is the usual, he won't be back on for twelve or fifteen hours." Shepard said, glancing up at the digital clock behind the bar, "You girls want to spend the night together?"
"You know just how to make a psychotic villainess feel all fuzzy inside." Harley giggled happily, jumping up to stand on the bench seat. She stepped up and stood on the table, squatting there with a playful look on her face.
"Come on, let's go back to my save file." Shepard said, finishing her beer in a gulp.
"What about my save? Mine is way more fun!" Harley said loudly.
"Yours is a battlefield, mine at least is a ship and a nice cozy cabin." Shepard said, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder.
"Oh you're no fun. What's so great about sex without knives and whips?" Harley sighed, "Okay fine, I'll settle for some lovey-dovey crap."
She stepped over the things on the table and sat down on the end of it.
"You know it's never that soft with Shepard. She's got all those dildos and vibrators." Lara laughed.
"You girls in for a fun night?" Kameo asked.
"Yea, I really need to relax." Shepard said, scooting out and getting up.
"Wish I could go. I've got another few hours on my shift." Kameo sighed.
"Well maybe next time you sexy little elf." Harley said, smacking Kameo on the ass hard enough to make her jump.
"Come on, I'm getting antsy." Lara said, getting quickly to her feet.
Harley stood up and followed them out of the Micro-Pub. Their favorite watering hole was down a small alley off the central disc. Out into the central disc, the noise from the characters crisscrossing it hit them like a train. The room was a hundred yards across in the shape of a large disc. Dozens of doors off the central disc led to different parts of the hard drive. One of the largest doorways, only smaller than the console doorway, led to the main save files. Characters constantly streamed in and out of it, going to jobs and other businesses on the hard drive.
Down the save game hall, they reached the Mass Effect door. The walls of the hall were a clean white, contrasting with all the different doors that led off it. The door they stood in front of was a large silver door akin to those on Shepard's ship, The Normandy SR-2. Light in the center of it spun when Shepard touched it and the door split in four directions, exposing a large swirling blue portal. They stepped through it and bright light engulfed them. It took them into the Mass Effect save file and deposited them into Shepard's bedroom on the Normandy. Being a save file, it would deposit the characters wherever they belonged and because Harley and Lara weren't part of Mass Effect, they were sent along with Shepard.
Her quarters were simple, just containing a bed, a table, a couch, a desk and a chair. There was a door that led into a bathroom and shower. Along one wall was a large fish tank, remnants of the ship having been made by the commercial company, Cerberus.
"I'll just lock the door real quick." Shepard grinned, turning around to touch the number pad.
"Ahh, this is always nice." Lara sighed, "I love your save file Shepard. It's always so peaceful."
She watched the fish in the tank swirl around and flit about the tank.
"Woo!" Harley called as she threw herself at Shepard's bed.
